MAC Performance Rayzor 3" Build Thread

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Allowing them to rotate might reduce friction on the rail slightly but no, it isn't necessary. It could help to keep that third button from making things bind up though... The flyway guides use three rotating buttons for these reasons. Linear rail guides and the airfoil ones don't rotate and work just fine.

When I do three buttons, I put one ahead of the apogee separation point to account for my inability to get all three perfectly in line.
 
Yesterday I made more progress....I installed the rail buttons and I tested the charge on the drogue side. 1 gram of 4F appears to work just fine. I also painted some stripes on one of the fins and applied my sticker from stickershock23.com. The only things I have left are to mount the tracker and sew some parachutes. For now I can launch without the tracker and borrow parachutes from another rocket. Here's a picture of the mostly finished rocket:finished.jpg
 
Yesterday I made more progress....I installed the rail buttons and I tested the charge on the drogue side. 1 gram of 4F appears to work just fine. I also painted some stripes on one of the fins and applied my sticker from stickershock23.com. The only things I have left are to mount the tracker and sew some parachutes. For now I can launch without the tracker and borrow parachutes from another rocket. Here's a picture of the mostly finished rocket:View attachment 311488

Are we going to see the first flight tomorrow at BattlePark? hope you can make it.
 
Are we going to see the first flight tomorrow at BattlePark? hope you can make it.

If all goes well you will....I was planning on being there on Sunday, but, the weather Sunday looks a little iffy, so, now I'm planning to be there tomorrow around lunch time.
 
I launched this rocket for the first time today at BattlePark on a J500 and it worked great. According to the Quantum, it reached an altitude of 4471 and a peak velocity of 672 feet/second or about 450 MPH. The OpenRocket simulations had it going to about 4350, so, they weren't too far off. Even with the dual deploy opening the main at 500 feet, it drifted about 3000 feet. It missed all of the trees and the stream, but, it did land on the edge of a road so it has minor damage on one of the fins and a bit of a scrape on the end of the booster. The canvas tube and fins held up well and the damage was fairly minor considering it was a road that it landed on. It will be ready to fly again with just a bit of sanding and I'm also going to add the tracker before the next launch.
 
I launched this rocket for the first time today at BattlePark on a J500 and it worked great. According to the Quantum, it reached an altitude of 4471 and a peak velocity of 672 feet/second or about 450 MPH. The OpenRocket simulations had it going to about 4350, so, they weren't too far off. Even with the dual deploy opening the main at 500 feet, it drifted about 3000 feet. It missed all of the trees and the stream, but, it did land on the edge of a road so it has minor damage on one of the fins and a bit of a scrape on the end of the booster. The canvas tube and fins held up well and the damage was fairly minor considering it was a road that it landed on. It will be ready to fly again with just a bit of sanding and I'm also going to add the tracker before the next launch.

Great news! I missed it in the thread, I think, but are you flying a drogue (size?) and how big is your main? I'm finishing the paint on mine, and don't yet have a final weight.
 
Great news! I missed it in the thread, I think, but are you flying a drogue (size?) and how big is your main? I'm finishing the paint on mine, and don't yet have a final weight.

So far, I'm borrowing parachutes from my Excel for this.....I'm using a 12" drogue and a home-made main that is an octagon of about 48". Eventually I'll make some chutes just for this. The rocket ended up a bit heavier that I expected at a little over 5 pounds. I think it drifted so much at this past launch because the winds aloft were much stronger than those at ground level.
 
I set a new personal record with this at LDRS 36 in Maryland. According to the Quantum, it made it to 8276 feet and 1188 ft/sec. on an Aerotech 54MM K513 reload. The drogue came out as expected, but, I lost it for a bit on the way down. I picked it up under main at about 300' and my Arduino tracker took me right to it in the one mud puddle among all of the nice tall grass. Fortunately, all of the electronics stayed dry. I also got to meet Mike Crupe who sells these kits and check out some of what he has coming up, like, a 6 or 7' tall 4" split fin with a boat tail that looks really nice.
 
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